Random OneShots
by Saiyagal
Summary: (Ratings and genre count only for individual chapters) All these have been up before - they're my one-shots that I took down. Ch 3 - Reflections - Gohan tortures himself with guilt over the Cell Games, and someone who cares helps him to understand...
1. Show Must Go On

A/N: Told you I'd put these up again. This will consist of all my Gohan one-shots, so each chapter is another story. If you reviewed last time, please review again. If you didn't, please review. I want more this time!  
  
SHOW MUST GO ON  
  
He stood there, unable to believe the carnage his young eyes were looking upon. Unable to believe that his life, all he's ever worked for, was gone. Swept away in the sands of time. He let his eyes travel all over the city turned battlefield, seeing so many of his friends, now dead. So many innocents had died in the rampage.South City was in ruins.  
  
And now, he struggled to contain his emotions. He didn't want them to sense him, not yet. If he powered up, the earth's hope was lost. Not that it wasn't already. Again, his eyes swept the field. And besides, it had been no help during the attack. For him, everything was lost.  
  
"No Gohan," someone said in the back of his head. "Everything isn't lost."  
  
He recognized the voice, but dismissed it as his mind inventing something familiar and comforting to deal with the pain and shock.  
  
The voice laughed. "No, I'm not a figment of your imagination, son. Listen to me."  
  
"But Dad," he whispered. "Weren't you watching? It's over. Even Vegeta's dead!"  
  
"I was son. I know what happened. Don't do it, Gohan. There's still so many who need you!"  
  
"Like who?" All the boy could think of was all the pain, all the death he had caused. Who could need him after that?  
  
"Like your mother, Bulma, and baby Trunks. They need to know."  
  
"Know what? There's not much to say, we lost!"  
  
"And don't forget, you're the last fighter even close to strong enough. Without you, the planet truelly is lost. Please, don't do it."  
  
"I."  
  
"Gohan, don't be a coward! You need to survive, Earth will be nothing without you! You are the last hope!"  
  
"I.I think you're right, but.it's so hard, Dad. It's so hard."  
  
"I know it is, son. I know it is." The voice faded into the void.  
  
Once again, Gohan let his eyes travel the field. He shook his head, as if to clear the memories, and began to fly off. No particular direction, just away from here.  
  
As he flew, he remembered a song he had once heard. It was called 'Show Must Go On', by Queen. He still had the C.D. it was about a man mourning for everything he'd lost, but knowing he had to go on. He supposed this was just like that song. He also remembered another song from Queen, 'Who Wants to Live Forever'. Way too true, he thought.  
  
He saw his home in the distance. His mother, crying on the Ox King's shoulders. Master Roshi, pointing up to him, yelling, "Chichi, he's alive! He's alive!" Gohan landed, and his mother began crying on him, whispering how glad she was that he wasn't dead, cleaning his wounds up. The boy wondered vaugly why she was crying, but then his mind blanked, and he slept blissfully, dreaming of when the androids would be gone. Hope was born that day.  
  
The end  
  
Show Must Go On (lyrics by queen)  
  
Emtpy spaces  
  
What are we living for  
  
Abandoned places  
  
I guess we know the score  
  
On and on  
  
Does anybody know what we are living for  
  
Another hero  
  
Another mindless crime  
  
Behind the curtains  
  
In the pantimine  
  
Hold the line  
  
Does anybody want to take it anymore  
  
Show must go on  
  
Show must go on, yeah  
  
Inside my heart is breaking  
  
And inside it's the darkest of a child's dreams  
  
Show must go on  
  
A/N: Nice and depressing. So review, PLEASE!!! 


	2. The Discussion

A/N: Okay, I'm putting up another of my one shots today. Please review...I'm too tired to beg. Oh yeah, and for you Gohan fans, I have a new crossover in the Golden Sun section called Golden Sun: The Power of Sol that you might like. Go ahead and check that one out too.  
  
THE DISCUSSION ~ Capsule Corp, Mirai Trunks' room... ~  
  
"Arrrrgh!" Mirai Trunks growled, slamming his fist onto the desk, which splintered. He sighed and replaced it. He was finding more and more often he was having a slight problem controlling his temper.  
  
"Thank you, Dad," he muttered under his breath.  
  
18-year-old Gohan walked in. He grinned at his friend, who just glared back at him. "Somebody's happy today," he said with a grin. "What's your problem?"  
  
"Damn net," Mirai replied, gesturing back to his computer. "There's too many censers these days! Even in my time they weren't this nuts!"  
  
"Censers? What're they doing?"  
  
"Only-" Just then, Mirai Goten, from the current future, walked in.  
  
"Hey, you two!" The others greeted him, M. Trunks barely concealing his anger. "What's got you, dude?"  
  
"That's what I asked," Gohan answered. "He says it's net censoring."  
  
"What's the big thing there? You shouldn't be boring your brains reading that crap."  
  
"You don't understand!" M. Trunks cried. "It's quality reading!"  
  
"Quality reading?" Gohan asked. "You call NC-17 quality reading?"  
  
M. Trunks blushed while M. Goten laughed. "Good shot, bro. But I can see where he's coming from. Some of that stuff is pretty good!"  
  
Gohan rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I know. It is kind of stupid."  
  
"KIND OF?!" M. Trunks practically shrieked. "What do you mean, kind of? It's out-and-out CRAZY!"  
  
M. Goten shrugged and laid a hand on his shoulder. "It's not as bad as all that, man. Life will go on."  
  
"And anyway, people must have been complaining about it for this to happen." Gohan grinned. "Probably parents caught the little kiddies reading sex stories."  
  
M. Trunks looked on the verge of tears. "But they always warn, don't they? In the stories, they always give a reason for the rating!" Then he really did cry. "Oh, why is the world so cruel!"  
  
Gohan snickered. "Because you're in it, baka. Get over it."  
  
M. Goten awkwardly patted his friend's hunched back, desperately trying to hide his laughter. "Trunks, come on, it's alright."  
  
"No, it'll never be alright," Gohan grinned, thoroughly enjoying himself. "NC-17 will forever be outlawed from internet services, forever! FOREVER!"  
  
"NEVER!" M. Trunks screamed. M. Goten quickly backed away, seeing the flash of yellow in his hair. He and Gohan watched as M. Trunks went level 2 for the first time.  
  
"NEVER! NEVER! NEVER! NEVER!!!" he kept screaming.  
  
~*~*~  
  
"NEVER!" M. Trunks yelled. He bolted up from bed. He looked around wildly, wondering what the hell just happened. Then it hit him.  
  
"It was a dream." he whispered, running his hands through his hair. The more he thought about it, the more he laughed at himself. "Yeah, a dream. NC-17 outlawed from a fanfiction site? It'd never happen. All a dream." Sighing happily, he laid himself down to sleep.  
  
In the dark corner, a strange man came out of the shadows. He wore a black suit, his hair was dark, and what could be seen of his face was completely serious. "What you have just seen," he said eerily, "is another twisted example of horror in that strange, alternate reality we know as." His eyebrows quirked, and he smirked. "The Twilight Zone!"  
  
And as the scene faded out, otherworldly music could be heard in the back round, playing.playing.playing... 


	3. Reflections

A/N: Another in a series of one-shots. This one involves Gohan of the normal timeline and his guilt issue over the Cell Games. ~ This ~ means Gohan's thoughts. Disclaimer, I don't own DBZ. Read and review, please!  
REFLECTIONS  
  
The lake near home. It was as beautiful as ever, unchanged even after all that had happened. It was still the perfect place to reflect on thoughts. Gohan wished he could say the same. Two years after the Cell Games, he still felt a twang of guilt every time he thought of it.  
  
~ Oh Dad, why did you trust me so? I had the power, but I let him live, and in effect I killed you. It was my fault, regardless of what you or any of the others say. I will always say the same - I helped Cell kill you. ~  
  
He thought of events that followed.  
  
~ Krillin married the android I rescued. I'm still not sure what I think about it. Man, would Dad be happy if he knew! And then, there's my brother... ~  
  
His younger brother Goten had been born less then a year after the Cell Games. He felt certain that Goku must not have known, because he decided to stay in the Other World. He couldn't imagine his beloved father being so...cruel. Now he had to be strong, for his brother.  
  
~ I was able to sense the energy fluxing in Mom just days later. I was the one who suggested the possibility of pregnancy, but I only revealed that after a month, so I could be sure of it. I didn't want to rush Mom, but it soon became apparent. She started eating more then me when I was hungry on a regular basis...that must have tipped off Grandpa. He came to me and asked if I, too, noticed something, and I told him my suspicions. He immediately took her to the doctor's, where it was confirmed. ~  
  
That was unexpected. Never in his entire life had he ever thought he would be anything but an only child. But then, life had never been the way he expected.  
  
~ I went from being a pampered wimp to a 'true warrior', as Vegeta would put it. I was supposed to be a scholar, and suddenly I've been kidnapped by my nutty saiyan uncle and thrust into the world of fighting.  
  
~ How I wish that never happened. ~  
  
As soon as that thought entered his mind, he regretted it. No, he didn't wish it never happened. If it wasn't for that he'd still be studying non- stop, he never would have meet the Z warriors, but most of all, he never would have changed at all. He'd still be the same sniveling, cowardly, spoiled little wimp he had started to become. Piccolo would still be an evil old geezer.  
  
~ And the world would be destroyed because of my temper and my damned 'hidden power'. ~  
  
His hidden power. The subject alone was enough to set him off. It was that that made the warrior part of him. Now that was something he could do without.  
  
~ It's because I'm half-and-half. Pure saiyan or pure human is nowhere near as strong. If only one of the others, like Vegeta or even my dad, had my hidden power...everything would be different. ~  
  
The only question was, would that be a good change? There was no way to be sure. As Goku had said, "Sometimes life is too unsure to have regrets." Gohan had to agree with him.  
  
Then the voice of Android 16 suddenly went through his mind.  
  
~ "It is because you cherish life that you protect it." Then, as though it just happened, I see it happen again, in slow motion. Cell, turning around, and crushing the gentle android's head. I watch the parts fly in small circles, and I watch the tiny light on his brain chip flicker and die.NOOOO!!! ~  
  
He powered up to level 2 suddenly with a shout heard around for miles. The anger flowed through him, fresh as it was the day he first felt it. The difference now was he tried to stop, tried to power down again. He hadn't before.  
  
~ It was so much easier last time. I had reason to attack, reason to feel the rage. I don't, anymore. ~  
  
He sensed, rather then saw, Piccolo approach. The Nameck had comforted him the last time this had happened, so he knew what had him worked up. He waited.  
  
"Are you alright?" he asked.  
  
Gohan wanted to say no, he wasn't, but his throat was constricted, halting any speech. Piccolo seemed to understand. Giving him a rare smile, he said softly, "You will be."  
  
That was all it took. Powering down suddenly as he had powered up, he began to cry. This, too, Piccolo had expected. No matter how strong Gohan was, the boy was still a child, and he did not like fighting. Goku had ignored this fact, and it nearly resulted in the death of them all.  
  
Piccolo went to the boy, and simply put his hand on his student's back, waiting for him to finish. After about half an hour, the tears subsided, and Gohan looked up at him with anger and confusion in his eyes. "Why?" he whispered. "Why do I feel so guilty?"  
  
"I don't know," Piccolo replied.  
  
Gohan's head lowered. "I hate this feeling. Like I know I could have done something, but I didn't. Almost like I killed Dad."  
  
"You killed no one but Cell."  
  
"Yeah, but that doesn't erase the feeling. It should, but it doesn't."  
  
"That, young Gohan, is something you must find for yourself."  
  
"I know, Piccolo. I know."  
  
After Piccolo left, he collapsed on the ground beneath him, leaning against the tree.  
  
~ Why do I feel this way? Why do I feel like it was my fault Cell killed my father, the same way it's Cell's fault I made level 2? If only...gods, Trunks, I think you had the right idea. Leaving everyone behind, if only for a little while. Maybe I could try it... ~  
  
Then he thought of his mother, and his younger brother, and he knew he just couldn't try it. His brother, after all, was maybe a year old, and no matter how tough Mom was, he knew she'd not last long afterwards if he left. And he would not let his mother die thanks to him.  
  
Gohan grinned as he noticed something in the now-night sky. It was a star, shooting across the sky. It went out of his view near where his house was. It was almost as if heaven agreed with his final decision, and was telling him to go home.  
  
The boy laughed. "Sure thing. Dinner sounds great about now!"  
  
He ran home. At the door, his little brother Goten held his arms up. With a smile, Gohan complied, and carried him inside. Maybe his father would never come home again, but he, Son Gohan, would always return.  
  
THE END 


End file.
